How does the subscription economy benefit me?

mmj_uk said:
Communism 101 - no private ownership. In the future there probably won't be money and you'll have to work to have access to everything. Don't work or get made unemployable for being a right wing nazi who believes in capitalism, go without. You heard it here first. :p
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Well people pay for it, people also pay for their children to be educated by imbeciles (if we're talking about the US specifically) while they helicopter about ruining their childrens' future as they then can not function well.

So they end up taking whatever society say it is they should take, it becomes a self-fulfilling stupidity multiplier that makes no one happy, which is probably why 1/10 people in the UK feel like killing themselves and 75% are under stress.

You'll get what the majority want's because apparently the majority is right.
 
Rroff said:
Inherently bad in their own right no - if they are replacing choice though it is often bad. Personally I'd rather pay more and get what I wanted than make a saving but end up with something less than ideal/that I didn't want.
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Removal of choice is bad but isn't necessarily a prerequisite of subscription models though.

Spotify for example hasn't removed the choice to buy albums.
 
mmj_uk said:
Communism 101 - no private ownership. In the future there probably won't be money and you'll have to work to have access to everything.
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That's effectivly what we have now though currency simply represents units of future work
 
Kenai said:
Removal of choice is bad but isn't necessarily a prerequisite of subscription models though.

Spotify for example hasn't removed the choice to buy albums.
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Long may it continue - I use Spotify a lot but I still buy MP3s from Amazon fairly often as well - some those purchases I wouldn't have made if it wasn't for discovering music through Spotify either.
 
It doesn't, that's the point. It benefits the people selling the subscription.

I usually pay for things outright through. I hate owing people and I want to actually own the things I use, including the car.
 
Rroff said:
Long may it continue - I use Spotify a lot but I still buy MP3s from Amazon fairly often as well - some those purchases I wouldn't have made if it wasn't for discovering music through Spotify either.
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I get buying vinyl or CD, but why MP3’s? Quality can’t be much different to Spotify’s highest stream bitrate?
 
robfosters said:
I get buying vinyl or CD, but why MP3’s? Quality can’t be much different to Spotify’s highest stream bitrate?
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Availability as much as anything - I listen to a lot of trance, etc. where a lot of it is fairly non-mainstream and not readily available in lossless format, etc. and/or the original work isn't that different in lossless quality than a decent bitrate mp3.

I kind of used MP3 generically there though replaceable with downloadable audio format file [without DRM].
 
Rroff said:
Availability as much as anything - I listen to a lot of trance, etc. where a lot of it is fairly non-mainstream and not readily available in lossless format, etc. and/or the original work isn't that different in lossless quality than a decent bitrate mp3.

I kind of used MP3 generically there though replaceable with downloadable audio format file.
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Aah right, yeah. I listen to a lot of trance too and I see what you mean. Too many 3 minute radio edits on Spotify. I like to hear a good trance track develop and build. Not 8 bars then straight into the drop. Doesn’t carry the impact that the full length mixes do. Mind you, I use beatport for trance as there collection is amazing and I bedroom DJ too so need the track rather than just a stream.
 
Rroff said:
I used to use beatport a lot but for some reason stopped using it and haven't gone back.
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I think they’re very good. Easy to use, decent length previews, a good download app (Beatport pro) and the tracks are high quality and reasonably priced. They also send money off vouchers to me quite often too.
 
I think the subscription model is good, I like the lease model on cars. Its about personal cash flow and not wasting money on depreciating assets balanced against wanting new and update to date items.

Older generations get very hung up on ownership when ultimately it doesn't matter. Just sit down and figure out the real cash cost to yourself vs ownership over a reasonable period of time.
 
JBod said:
I think the subscription model is good, I like the lease model on cars. Its about personal cash flow and *paying the full brunt of the depreciation of depreciating assets* balanced against wanting new and update to date items.

Older generations get very hung up on ownership when ultimately it doesn't matter. Just sit down and figure out the real cash cost to yourself vs ownership over a reasonable period of time.
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Indeed, the people providing subscription models are in the business of making money, you pay a premium for the other benefits you might value. You might find instances where you get good deals though.
 
I have Amazon Prime, Netflix family and Spotify family subscriptions because I get a lot of value from them. I don't have a phone contract other than a rolling one month sim only contract. I buy my phones. I do it this way because I won't be locked into a long term contract in case my financial situation changes.

I do buy software but am not too keen on subscription for those because it gives the company little incentive to improve it. I did buy a Jetrains license last year which decreases in price for each year you buy. But it has a perpetual license so that if I don't buy this year's updates I have a license forever to run the version in place that I last bought. So if I stop buying it I still have use of it. I may switch that to a monthly subscription because I can stop it at any time.

My criteria for any software purchase (other than games) is:

1) It must serve a purpose that I need.
2) It must have a perpetual license.
3) It must run on all three major OS platforms (Windows, MacOS and Linux) so I can move platforms with it if needed.
 
Physical things I like to own it.

I prefer buying a house than mortgage.
I prefer buying my car outright than lease.

But for services I don’t mind subs, I subs to Netflix, prime, odeon limitless, adobe products (instead of £600 for PS and £120 for LR annually vs £120 a year sub).

I don’t sub to any music services as that’s not my interest but if you can value from it then it’s fine.

I’m more a visual person so I have all these movies subs and I go to the cinema once or twice a week.
 
Very happy not having to own a car any more. I don't always run a subscription, but usually just pay by the minute. Costs a fraction of ownership. Win win.

Ditto Spotify, I listen to loads of music I wouldn't otherwise have access to....still go and buy the LPs I want to keep.
 
I dont think it affects normal people much. It's just buzzwords. In the future it could apple to cars and even places to live in over-crowded and over-priced cities I suppose.

I don't watch tv and went 100% linux a while ago so don't have any subscriptions except the free version of spotify an offroad GPS service thats only $30 a year. And Costco.
 
Personally my wife and I hate these subscription models and will really try to avoid as much as possible. We'd both much rather just pay for things up front where possible.
 
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